This is a project I've started to prove I'm not an apostate: mapping BITE to WTS. Part one is the first criteria of cult control, Behaviour Control. Feel free to add to these subheadings too, as many of you were in a lot longer than me and have been in bethel or been elders.
Behavior Control
1. Regulation of individual’s physical reality
a. Where, how and with whom the member lives and associates with
JWs are encouraged only associate with Witnesses and avoid others as much as possible; even in the congregation, associate with ‘good’ associations. Work functions, clubs and such are not considered appropriate association and are highly discouraged. Members are encouraged to keep association with non-JW family members low too.
b. What clothes, colors, hairstyles the person wears
There are guidelines of acceptable hairstyles, unspoken rules about women’s clothes, written and unwritten rules about what not to wear and certain privileges withheld because of facial hair etc. Men have to wear suits and ties to the meetings or they will be looked upon as spiritually weak and will not get any ‘priviledges’. In some countries the standard is more relaxed because of local custom for instance, men can wear sarongs to the meeting in the Torres Strait Islands.
c. What food the person eats, drinks, adopts, and rejects
Anything with blood in it for example, black pudding.
d. How much sleep the person is able to have
Not applicable to my knowledge
e. Financial dependence
Not applicable to my knowledge
f. Little or no time spent on leisure, entertainment, vacations
For JWs, the purpose of recreation, entertainment and holidays is to relax/refresh you for more witnessing. It is held to have no intrinsic value. Anything that doesn’t make for more witnessing is considered a waste of time.
2. Major time commitment required for indoctrination sessions and
group rituals –
There are many commitments for the JW to keep: twice weekly meetings, ‘pre study for said meetings in a number of WT publications’, family worship whereby families are expected to work together on a Bible/WT project, 3x year assemblies, daily paragraph from WT in daily text.
3. Need to ask permission for major decisions
Not specifically, though many JWs will consult the elders on a particular course of action for advice.
4. Need to report thoughts, feelings and activities to superiors
JWs are expected to confess major sins to elders: fornication, over-drinking, viewing porn, etc.
5. Rewards and punishments (behavior modification techniques- positive
and negative).
JW congregations use Withholding of brothers’ privileges, removing a brother’s privileges, and punishments like public reproving and disfellowshipping.
6. Individualism discouraged; group think prevails
“Independent thinking” vilified as a Satanic trait; JWs are told to obey and trust GB without questions, discouraged from making independent Bible study groups and can expect the elders to discipline them in some way if they talk to other JWs about private interpretation of the Bible. All individuals, regardless of skill, talent, shortcomings or preferences have to engage in the same activities and are expected to place them before their own likes such as arts, sports or hobbies.
7. Rigid rules and regulations
JWs have many rules that go beyond the Bible such as they must have chaperones when dating, there are strict protocols for meetings and assemblies, strict criteria for gaining certain titles, and quotas of hours in the door-to-door work associated with titles such as ‘pioneer’.,
8. Need for obedience and dependency
JWs are instilled with unquestioning obedience of FDS aka GB. To question the GB or WTS or say anything critical of the publications is considered disobedience.
I will add the other criteria as I have them finished/are able to put up my one post per day.